


A Satisfied Man

by Zagzagael



Series: Deadwood Season 4 [2]
Category: Deadwood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-24
Updated: 2011-08-24
Packaged: 2017-10-23 00:56:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/244480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zagzagael/pseuds/Zagzagael





	A Satisfied Man

Martha was beginning to despair of how to rid the house of the heavy smell of smoke. The windows and doors had stood open for days now and yet the cloying odour clung to the knotty pine paneling, to the curtains, the furniture, the bed clothing. She had washed what could be washed, swept until the wood floors gleamed, and had set huge open crocks of apple cider vinegar in each room. She wondered, today, if perhaps the smell was a bit less bothersome.

She was standing in front of her washstand, brushing her long hair out before plaiting it and twisting it into place. Over her shoulder, in the mirror, she could see the rumpled bed and she blushed thinking of it. Something had shifted between her and Mr. Bullock. Hers was a nature that accepted the rise and fall of the road before her, but this was an unexpected gentle pathway of flowers and open meadow. Something was still pacing the road with them, and darkness lay behind, but she and Seth were now walking beside one another towards a horizon together. As was her morning ablution, she closed her eyes, began twisting her hair and sent heartfelt prayers into the universe for her dead husband and now their dead child. She patted the stray hairs in place with a small bit of pomade, smoothed down the front of her dress and realized suddenly that she felt exactly as she had when she was recovered from a fever at seventeen. She had moved through a frightening valley of darkness and found herself in a new land.

She smiled to herself and out in the hallway discovered Joanie quietly shutting William’s door.

“Leave it open. I think we’re going to see the end of this smoke smell this week, but we do need to keep the air moving through the house.”

Joanie opened the door, smiling a hello, and the two women walked downstairs together. Jane and Charlie Utter were sitting at the kitchen table and a pot of coffee overwhelmed the stale smell of the kitchen.

“Thank you, Charlie,” Martha said quietly and he bustled in the way that he did and she smiled at him. “Where is Mr. Bullock?”

“I seen him on his way to Mrs. Ellsworth’s house. I asked him where you headed so early and he said they was gonna raise the main beam on the new bank building mid-day today and he was making sure that was on everyone’s schedule. That’s gonna take a dozen men and that mule team of Davey’s, I reckon.” Jane rapid fired this and Joanie sat down beside her and she quieted.

Martha nodded and squelched the strange turn in her guts. Something about Alma Garrett Ellsworth pricked at her and it made her feel un-Christian, so she tamped it down. “I see someone left us eight eggs. I’ll boil them and that should fortify for the morning at least.” She knew Seth must have gone out very early for the eggs and brought them back before heading out again.

“Jane,” Martha turned from the woodstove. “Do you have time in your morning to teach another knot to the children?”

Jane blushed a fierce red but nodded. “I will do that. But I want to be at the bank mid-day to see that beam go up.”

Charlie rose and walked to the deep sink, setting his coffee mug inside. “I’m heading out with the buckboard to fetch them children down by the river for school.”

Another post-fire morning in Deadwood.

 

Alma knew the look of a satisfied man and she was sitting at the breakfast table seeing that look on Seth Bullock’s face. It twisted something inside of her and she bit her lower lip hard enough to untwist it. Sol and Sofia were oblivious, eating breakfast. Trixie’s sharp eyes were flicking over Seth’s face, the set of his shoulders, and the hat in his hands, the stance as he stood and discussed the day with them.

The Doc was eating quickly, quizzing Sofia about the long bones in the human body. Merritt and Blazenov were also seated at her table. Blazenov had proven to be a very fine breakfast cook and the past week had cooked for everyone in Alma’s house. She felt deeply indebted to the telegraph operator.

“It’s remarkable how quickly the camp has rallied,” Merritt said.

All the adults nodded.

“It’s gratifying,” Seth agreed.

“I still don’t understand fully why the bank takes precedence over a clinic for Doc or the hardware store or the press.” Alma’s voice sounded needy even in her own ears.

“We’ve gone over that, Mrs. Ellsworth.” Seth was dismissive.

Merritt tried a kinder tack. “The idea of that safe sitting in the open like that,” he shuddered. “We don’t want to invite more trouble than we’ve already had. The bank should be operable by the end of this week, I would think.”

Seth nodded.

“And as for the press, well, I’m waiting for the Insurance agents to arrive so that I can place an order. But I do think I will have to travel to Cheyenne this month and purchase in person. The issue will be transport.”

Blazenov made a sympathetic noise beside him.

“Yes, yes. I just want to insure that we’re ready now and that there won’t be any unexpected delay because of our own lack of planning.” Seth ignored the other men and looked directly at the bank owner.

Alma’s voice was stiff. “We are prepared, Mr. Bullock. I will walk Sofia to school and then I am meeting with Mr. Swearengen at the Gem tent. I have no idea why he’s being so generous with his team of builders and allotting me that beam what with the scarcity of wood right now, but there you have it.”

“Don’t you, though?” Seth’s voice was a small whipcrack and Trixie looked up at him sharply. Sol continued shoveling eggs and tomatoes into his mouth.

“Fine, then. I need to begin organizing men to help find those horses before the Sioux do. I will see you at noon.” He pulled his hat back on, nodded to the room and was gone.


End file.
